Compared to cooking on an electric or gas grill, using a charcoal grill is a bit more complicated because it’s more “hands-on.” You have to put more effort into building, controlling and maintaining heat and fire. You also have to watch your food at all times. But if you can master a charcoal grill, using other types will be a piece of cake!

Follow these helpful tips for all charcoal grill users:

Use a fireplace lighter

Lighting a charcoal grill with lighter fluid is easy, but there is a high risk that the food will taste like kerosene. Instead, use a fireplace starter – you’ll only need a sheet of paper and a match to light about 100 briquettes in less than 30 minutes.

Start with a 6-quart model that is readily available at most home and hardware stores.

Know how much charcoal to use

Once you’ve become familiar with using a fireplace starter, you’ll feel more comfortable controlling the heat of your grill. Fill the starter with charcoal for high heat, 1/2-3/4 full for medium heat and 1/4 full for low heat, which is great for smoking and grilling whole birds, large roasts, and pork ribs.

Control the temperature through the vents.

With electric and gas grills, you can easily adjust the temperature of the grill by turning the knobs. That is not possible with a charcoal grill. However, you can help control how hot your coals will be by opening and closing the vents.

This will help you control the flow of oxygen – opening the vent allows for more oxygen, which means a hotter grill.

deal with flare-ups

Most grills would use a spray bottle of water to treat the sprouts, but this will only spray ash onto the food. The flare-ups are usually caused by dripping fat or sauces on hot coals. Instead, move the meat to the indirect zone (no fire zone).

Use wood chips to enhance flavor

This is one of the best parts about using a charcoal grill: you can add wood to enhance the flavor of whatever you’re grilling. Add a delicious smoky flavor to your food by using fruit woods like apple and cherry or the classics hickory and mesquite.

Charcoal grilling takes a lot of practice and patience! Follow and practice these helpful tips for charcoal grill users and you’ll be a certified grill master in no time!